As Ball President Ross Thomson explained, “New College requests, as one of the conditions of the Ball taking place, that the committee donates money to charity on behalf of the three Fellows who have supported it throughout the year…One Fellow decided that he would like his donation to go to the JCR, and asked the JCR President to canvas opinion as to a specific project to spend the money on.”
It would appear that confusion ensued thereon as some of the suggestions put forward by JCR members were either purposefully amusing, a “water slide option” starting off the debate, or seen to only benefit a few students, such as a suggestion to use the money to create a “band room”.
Many also expressed frustration that the spending of the £600 was being controlled by the fellow who had donated it. Furthermore, others questioned why three fellows were given £1000 each to donate to charity instead of that money being reinvested in next year’s ball, especially considering that ball tickets last year cost £170.
Despite such confusions it would appear the problem as now been solved. As Kath Nicholls summed up the issues and the resolution: “The JCR is very grateful for the donation, as extra funds for JCR projects can only be a good thing. My aim was that everyone had a fair say in how the money was spent.
“A few people were concerned that the projects in the original poll, taken as suggestions from JCR members, were not adequate so a new poll is now running with the additional option to put the money straight into the JCR budget, rather than opting for one of the projects, such as redeveloping the band room. Interestingly, only a small minority (13 out of 142 so far) have voted to put the money straight into the budget in place of it going towards one of the projects.”
If anything, this story highlights how easily issues can get muddled when blown up on Freshers’ pages, as Honoria Connelly, a second year at New, put it “It’s not really a story, more of a facebook thread”.
